PTPM Energy Scavenger Snatches Electricity From Thin Air

In the 1890s, Nikola Tesla envisioned a wireless power transmission system to rival the infrastructure of wires being installed at the time. He even built and demonstrated small-scale prototypes. The technology never caught on at a large scale, but it is commonly used today in wireless charging and NFC (Near-Field Communication) devices. That same principle, along with some additional tricks, is what powers this PTPM Energy Scavenger.

Mile created PTPM Energy Scavenger for Hackaday’s Power Harvesting Challenge, which invited participants to build devices that harness ambient energy. The environment around us is packed with small amounts of energy that is constantly zipping around. If that energy is gathered in a practical way, it could be used as a long term power source for IoT devices and environmental sensors. But, that ambient energy comes in a variety of forms, which is why Mile’s PTPM Energy Scavenger is designed to collect it in multiple ways.

The first type is magnetic induction energy, which is the same power transmission method Tesla designed, and what modern smartphones use for wireless charging. The second is a photovoltaic, just like a solar panel. The third is thermoelectric, which generates energy from a heat source. And the final one is piezoelectric, which converts vibration into electricity. Put that all together, and you have a device that harvests enough energy to power a small ATmega328P microcontroller, a wireless module, and temperature and humidity sensors to gather environmental data.